Log home owners beware: this has been a particularly bad year for yellow jackets. Our crews have been bothered by them a lot as they go about repairing log homes. They can be a real nuisance, especially when you run into them unexpectedly. Unlike a honeybee which can only sting once, yellow jackets can sting multiple times.
Yellow jackets are wasps, not bees, though they are often confused with honeybees. Yellow jackets are not picky about where they set up home; they build nests both above and below the ground. Since they are often referred to as bees, they have given honeybees a bad name when it comes to dealing with them.
If you have these wasps, there is a great deal of information available on how to remove them. If you think you have honeybees nesting near your home and you want them removed, contact a local beekeeper who might be able to capture them and incorporate them into their apiary.
The bottom line: yellow jackets do NOT make good neighbors.
